HR, welcome to the proverbial circus of politics in the coming year. HR and Talent folks will be hard pressed to ignore the firestorm created by our politicians in our country the past few months. It hit a crescendo this past week as Presidential Impeachment proceedings took center stage. We always have been dealing with politics, specifically legislation and to …
Do Activist Employees At Google Represent The Masses?
If you’re an HR leader, one important thing to get your head around is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its connection to the mission of your company and the market choices your company makes. Welcome to the new world. You can’t simply chase a profitable line of business that exists on the fringes without considering CSR. At no place is …
The State of Today’s Job Market? It’s Not Nearly as Tight as You Think
Do you really believe that today’s U.S. unemployment rate is at the lowest level since 1969? Well I don’t, and I’m getting tired of the constant overhype about how this is possibly the greatest market for job seekers ever, and that anyone who wants a job can find one. That’s because the current job market isn’t nearly as good as …
HR Girl Power in 2019
Ariana Grande proclaimed “God is a Woman,” Keith Urban sang about “Female,” and Jesse J begged girls to feel elevated and say “I am a Queen.” Fearless Girl is on the move to the NY Stock Exchange; Sheryl Sandberg focused headlines read “Fall from Grace” for her part in Facebook’s mishaps, and a new study shows a 51% wage gap …
Walk This Way: What the #GoogleWalkout Means for HR Leaders
The irony of the Aerosmith reference in my title is not lost on me in the wake of the #GoogleWalkout over sexual harassment, gender and pay equality, and transparency in reporting. Check the lyrics if you were born in the ’90’s. What struck me as I was reading about this protest wasn’t necessarily the fact that Google paid executives to …
LinkedIn is Democratizing Engagement – Do You Have a Playbook for That?
If you’re one of the many LinkedIn users who noticed an uptick in your post engagement over the last month, you’ll be happy to know that democracy is alive and well in America (and everywhere else you can access LinkedIn). In a recent blog post, the social networking and recruiting/marketing/now learning giant shared that they recently made updates to their …
A Hidden Pool of Talent That None of Us Think of!
There’s a restaurant in Minneapolis called All Square. They make square grilled cheese sandwiches. They do not have any problems finding employees! Why? They only hire people who have been formerly incarcerated. Yes, you just read that correctly. They ‘only’ hire people who have spent time in prison for committing a crime. You know how you and I won’t hire someone …
Strength in Unity
What do you remember most about 9/11? It’s perhaps the most memorable day in our generation’s history. I suspect it will be mine. Here’s my story. I was working for an agricultural cooperative and I was responsible for a team of 430 men and women who sold agricultural input products to farmers. We were in the middle of our three-day …
#mentalhealthmatters > Especially At Work
“The pattern of highly accomplished and successful people committing suicide is transfixing. It assures the rest of us that a life of accolades is not all that it’s cracked up to be and that achieving more will not make us happier. At the same time, it reveals the fact that no one is safe from suicide, that whatever defenses we …
HR In The New World Of Work – Through The Lens Of A Customer
Nike has been in the headlines lately. Emerging from those headlines is the story of a significant loss of opportunity within a key segment of Nike’s customers. Nike is the biggest sports footwear and apparel company in the world, commanding $34.4 billion in revenue last year. And yet Nike’s women’s business made up only about a fifth of the total business. …